Yurting and glamping? So last year. Camping? Well, the weather so far this summer hasn't been inspiring and the cost of all that kit can be prohibitive. Not to mention the shrinking size of pitches at some of the more popular sites.

Step forward the humble British bunkhouse, hostel and bothy. Shrugging off the image of rundown dormitories strewn with the wet socks of strangers, the bunkhouse is enjoying a revival as more people stay in the UK for their holidays and more go walking and cycling across the green and pleasant parts of the land.

Offering cheap shelter from the rain, situated in some of the best scenery the UK has to offer, often for less than you would pay in airport tax alone for the average foreign holiday, the hostelling holiday is coming into its own.

Some 50 minutes from London, down a leafy, single-track lane outside the Surrey market town of Haslemere sits Hunter's Lodge, a pleasant half-timbered building with a few sheep idling outside and the forests and meadows of the South Downs National Park stretching for miles around. Just refurbished by the National Trust, the lodge is being run as a bunkhouse and sleeps 19.

"We're finding that people who might have gone to France or Italy before, especially if you're a big family group, are now coming here," said David Elliott, head ranger at Black Down Estate, 100 acres of National Trust land surrounding Hunter's Lodge. "And it's not just families, but walkers' groups and ramblers, cyclists. There is definitely a great rise in people using the outdoors. We're seeing the membership of the National Trust growing too, and that's a great thing, as we want people to be more passionate and more involved in the British countryside."

It is a little disconcerting to admire the miniature belted Galloway cows grazing across the field and then notice that the hearth rug is made of the same distinctive pelt, but the accommodation is clean and comfortable. With a wood-burning stove, more than adequate kitchen and bedrooms of single bunks, it runs on a log-fired biomass boiler that uses wood coppiced from the forests.

The summer of 2012 saw a bumper number of people staying in Britain for their holiday – the "staycation" had arrived as austerity and recession hit. Data collected this year by localpeople.co.uk suggests that 2013 may be a record year for Brits staying at home. Its poll of 2,000 people last month suggested that eight million of us will holiday in the UK. Trends are towards self-catering, according to VisitEngland statistics, and value for money.

Richard Roworth, a former professional photographer and keen walker, owns and runs the website Findabunkhouse.co.uk. He has seen a 57% rise in interest this year compared with the same period last year.

"It's about budgets really; no one wants to give up on a holiday. But it's a healthy trend. There is a really noticeable rise in the take-up of outdoor pursuits and, with the weather, camping is looking a lot less attractive. So while the cities are seeing a rise in backpackers' hostels, we're seeing the same rise in bunkhouses in rural areas. A lot of people are expanding and doing up what they have. Most of them will have family rooms and they are all geared towards people who want privacy.

"People love the Lake District but the price of hotels is astronomical, so £7 or £15 a night, or perhaps £25 with a meal, looks good."

Although many bunkhouse owners are private individuals, hoteliers expanding into hostelling or farmers with a converted barn, the British youth hostelling tradition is also alive and well. Keith Legge, chief executive of SYHA Hostelling Scotland, said hostelling was holding its own in "a challenging economic environment and highly competitive sector". Last year it had 400,000 visitors to its network of 71 hostels across Scotland.

"Family finances are particularly stretched this year and we offer good-quality accommodation that won't break the budget," he said. "Hostelling has changed to adapt to today's traveller, but its objectives and principles remain the same: a warm welcome and the opportunity to discover Scottish culture and its natural heritage. Our hostel managers offer a wealth of information on their local area, from tips on things to do for free in Edinburgh to advice on hillwalking in Torridon."

He said anyone who remembered the youth hostel of years gone by might be astonished. "SYHA has adapted to meet the changing expectations of our guests, offering private rooms, many en-suite, as well as cafes and bistros in some locations. Our diverse range of guests includes families with young children, people who have retired, as well as youth and other groups of all ages."